Get Pregnant, Get Kicked Out of School (But You Can Come Back For Sex Ed)

Louisiana, a state dedicated to abstinence-only sex education, has a high rate of teen pregancy. That’s no surprise. What may be a surprise to some, however, is how one charter school in Louisiana is handling teen pregnancy.

Welcome to Delhi Charter School, in Delhi, Louisiana, a school of 600 students that does not believe its female students have a right to education free from discrimination. According to its Student Pregnancy Policy, the school has a right to not only force testing upon girls, but to send them to a physician of the school administration’s choice. A positive test result, or failure to take the test at all, means administrators can forbid a girl from taking classes and force her to pursue a course of home study if she wishes to continue her education with the school.

This is in blatant violation of federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

But don’t feel too badly for the pregnant girls being denied their right to an education. It sounds like she is still allowed to return to the campus in one case — to attend sex ed classes. According to the school policy:

Whenever instruction in sex education is offered, such instruction shall be also available to any student of the school, regardless of the student’s grade level, who is pregnant or who is a mother or father.

It is unclear if sex ed covers contraception, but they are clear to mention that it discusses “parental responsibilities under child support laws in the state.”